Five Brothers and a War

1943—Food Supply Becoming Scarce

A depiction showing the chicken coop alongside the open coal shed. Marie working in the kitchen.

A similar food-producing project in the form of 12 rabbit cages was undertaken. Rabbits have the capability to quickly reproduce, while living on grass, carrot greens and other leafy kitchen scraps. Rabbits can be harvested when they are only 8-10 weeks old. They were therefore another source of nutrition when things began to get critical. As with the chicken coop, the rabbit area was also constructed by Kees and his father. They chose the back corner, between the chicken coop and the back fence, which already had a door installed to allow access to the vegetable garden. A roof was provided to shelter the animals, and the cages were oriented to ensure protection from the cold and damp wind coming off of the nearby North Sea. Harvesting the rabbits was tougher than harvesting the chickens though. Chickens have little beady eyes, but rabbits have big friendly ones. Chickens have a snotty disposition, but rabbits are cute and cuddly. Chickens have feathers, but rabbits have soft fur. Rabbits like to be held. They respond when they are fed. People get attached to rabbits as pets, whereas chickens are just farm animals. But in the end, the nutritional needs of the family were more important than the emotional attachment to the animals. Marie was very good about laying aside food during times of relative plenty in order to prepare for the even leaner years. She continued to set aside everything she could through canning meats, eggs, fruit and vegetables, and storing those items in the cool kelder , under the staircase leading from the ground level to the middle level. By war’s end, there were still a few supplies left. A very few.

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

Page 407